Death's Mistress

CHAPTER 35

Rain and gloom set in for the next four days as they traveled higher into the mountains. The mornings were filled with fog, the days saturated with drizzle, and the nights accompanied by a full downpour. Low-hanging clouds and dense dripping trees kept them from seeing far into the distance, and they could not gauge the high and rugged mountains ahead of them. Eventually, Nicci knew they would find the high point and look down into the lush valley that lay between them and Kol Adair.

Nicci walked along wrapped in a gray woolen cloak the Lockridge innkeeper had given her, which was drenched and heavy. Bannon and Nathan were just as miserable, and the sodden gloom weighed on them as heavily as the young man’s reticence.

On the fifth night out of Lockridge, the downpour increased and the temperature dropped to a bone-penetrating wet cold. Nicci was pleased to find a thick wayward pine, a pyramid-shaped tree with dense, drooping boughs. For those travelers who knew how to identify them, wayward pines formed a solid, reliable shelter in the forest. Richard had shown her how to find and use them.

Nicci shook the long-needled branches to disperse the collected beads of rainwater, then lifted the bough aside to reveal a dark and cozy hollow within. “We’ll sleep here.”

The wizard found a comfortable spot inside under the low overhanging branches. “Now, if you could just find some roasted mutton and a tankard of ale, Sorceress, we’d have a fine night.”

Bannon sat with his knees pulled up against his chest, still withdrawn.

“Be satisfied with what I’ve already provided,” Nicci said. She did use her magic to light a small fire inside the shelter, and the crisp greenwood smoke curled up into the slanted boughs and away from them. Because they were soaked and cold, Nicci also released more magic to dry the moisture in their clothes, so that for the first time in days they actually felt warm and comfortable.

“I can tolerate unpleasant conditions,” she explained, “but not when I don’t have to. We need our strength and a good rest. There’s no telling how far we have yet to go.”

“The journey itself is part of our goal,” Nathan said. “After we find Kol Adair and I am whole again with my magic, we have the rest of the Old World to explore.”

“Let us get a good rest for tonight,” she said, “and explore the whole world tomorrow.”

They warmed water over the fire and made a fortifying soup with barley, dried meat, and spices. Afterward, they collected enough rainwater in a pot outside the wayward pine that they could make hot tea.

Bannon rolled up in his now-dry cloak and pretended to go to sleep, and Nathan looked at him with concern. “Adventures rarely turn out the way one expects,” he said in a low voice to Nicci, but Bannon surely heard as well—as the wizard no doubt intended.

* * *

The next day as they continued through the drizzle, splashing in puddles and slipping in the trail mud, Nathan exuberantly drew his sword and rounded on Bannon. “You walk like a sluggard, my boy. And with your eyes so downcast, a dragon could be upon you before you even noticed.” He held up his sword and stepped in front of the young man, blocking his way. “Defend yourself, or you’re useless to us.”

Though Bannon was startled, the wizard swung his sword, but without malice, and he did so slowly enough that the confused young man had a chance to duck. “Stop, Nathan! What are you doing?”

“Waking you up.” The wizard swung again, more earnestly this time.

Bannon leaped out of the way. He fumbled Sturdy from its scabbard. “I don’t want to fight you.”

“Such a pity,” Nathan said, coming after him. “When bloodthirsty enemies come for me, I always let them know whether I’m in the mood for fighting. It makes all the difference.” He swung again, and Bannon lifted his sword to meet the blow with a loud clang. Sparrows in the branches overhead were startled into flight, swooping away to find a drier, more peaceful bough.

Nicci knew exactly what Nathan was doing, although she also understood the young man’s lethargy. After Bannon had been forced to face the fact that his nostalgic life was nothing more than a foolish fantasy, he was like a ship cast adrift with no rudder or sails. Nicci had spent years building shields around her mind and heart, but Bannon was still so young.

Nathan cried out in happy surprise as his opponent counterattacked, whistling his blade through the air. The solid ringing of steel against steel echoed through the waterlogged forest. “That’s better, my boy! I want to know that you can handle yourself if we’re set upon by monsters again.”

They crashed through the underbrush as Nathan chased him. Bannon wheeled to defend himself and press an attack, sending the wizard into full retreat; then, in a furious volley of blows, they brought each other to a standstill. His face animated now, Bannon pressed forward, pushing Nathan, who slipped in the slimy mud of the trail. The wizard tumbled flat on his back, and then Bannon also lost his balance and sprawled beside his mentor. The two men picked themselves up, panting, and laughing. Both were covered in mud.

Nicci watched them, her arms crossed, the woolen traveling cloak pulled around her. Meeting Nathan’s eyes, she gave him a nod of acknowledgment.

The wizard reached out to take the young man’s hand, and pulled him up beside him. “Dear spirits, that didn’t stop the rain, but it may have lifted your gloom.”

“I’m sorry,” Bannon muttered. “When I wanted to leave Chiriya Island, I think … I may have been running away. But now, I realize that isn’t the point at all.” He lifted his chin, which was smeared with mud. The rain kept coming down, fat droplets falling from the dense branches above in a constant cold shower. “I want to go with you. This is the journey I’ve always dreamed about.”

“Good,” Nathan said. “Then, let’s keep exploring.”

Nicci set off in the lead. “If we go far enough, we may even walk out of this rain.”

The higher they climbed, the colder the nights got, but finally the rain ceased. The downpour had lasted long enough to wash the mud from their clothes.

Two days later, the skies cleared of clouds, opening to a fresh blue, and Nicci picked up the pace, rejuvenated by the sunshine. By now, the path had become all but indistinguishable from a game trail, and they had seen no one since leaving Lockridge. Nicci could understand why Emperor Jagang had not bothered to send his armies down to these isolated lands, where there were few people to conquer.

Occasionally, they came upon ruins of large stone buildings that had fallen into disrepair, overgrown by the forest and reclaimed by time.

“This land must have thrived thousands of years ago,” Nathan said. “After the great barrier was erected at the end of the wizard wars, Sulachan and his successors were forced to push south instead, since they could no longer reach the New World. There were cities and roads, trading posts, mining towns, great leaders and internal wars. In fact, Emperor Kurgan devoted most of his conquest to the southern part of the Old World.”

“That is why we’ve heard little of him in our history,” Nicci said. “He was unimportant.”

“He was important enough to these people,” the wizard said.

“I don’t see any people,” Bannon said.

“Use your imagination. They were here.”

They stopped at a mossy, overgrown building foundation. Squares laid out on the ground marked what must have been a large fortress, but now only crumbling remnants outlined the rubble. “The world tends to pass you by when you live your life in a tower.” He kept talking while Nicci and Bannon followed him away from the ruins. “Did I tell you about the time I foolishly tried to escape from the palace? I was young, with little concept of how impregnable my prison was.”

Nicci frowned. “The Sisters never mentioned to me that you had tried to escape.”

“I was only a century old, just a boy, really. I was brash and willing to take chances … and I was also impossibly bored. Yes, I had the freedom to roam through the high tower rooms, to look at the wonderful books in the library, but such diversions can only distract a young man for so long before he begins to dream. I didn’t want to be their pet prophet, so I laid my plans for months. Yes, they had placed an iron collar around my neck, and with the Rada’Han they could control me and my magic.” His lips quirked in a smile, and he tossed his straight white hair behind him. “So I had to be resourceful and not just use a spell or two to get away.

“When I kept telling the Sisters I was cold, they brought me more blankets, and I used just a tiny bit of the gift to unravel the fibers, which I reassembled into a rope, a long rope, thread after thread. It was strong enough to hold my weight.

“I spent a week being cheerful and attentive to my studies so as to lull the Sisters into a sense of complacency, and then one moonless night I made my way to one of the highest rooms. I barricaded the door after claiming that I meant to study spell books throughout the night. I was a curious young man and wanted to build my powers as a wizard, even though I knew they would never free me.” He unconsciously rubbed at his neck, as if he still felt the iron collar there. “Because a prophet is too dangerous, you see.”

He looked at Bannon to make sure the young man was listening. “I opened the high window and fastened my rope securely to an anchor. I was precluded from using a levitation spell, so I had to resort to more traditional means. When I lowered myself over the sill and looked down, I felt as if the drop went all the way to the underworld.” He regarded Bannon, cocking an eyebrow. “When one lives inside stone-walled rooms, it’s difficult to get a sense of the vastness of the sky or the long drop to the ground below. But I was resolved. I wrapped the rope around my waist and began to lower myself down the wall.”

Nicci was skeptical of the story. “The Palace of the Prophets is guarded by wards and shields. No one could just climb through a window and escape.”

He lifted a finger. “And why do you think the Sisters added all those protective spells? Back then, the women assumed the shields blocking the lower doors would be sufficient. They never thought I would be foolish enough to climb out the highest tower.” He cleared his throat. “The important part is that I was dangling by a rope from the tower wall—very brave, I might add. But I had miscalculated. When I was still nearly a hundred feet from the base of the tower, the rope ran out. I was just hanging there!”

He paused for suspense, and looked at Bannon. “I did know how to use Additive Magic, so I made the strands of the rope grow. I should have guessed that the Sisters would detect this through the Rada’Han, but what could I do? I certainly couldn’t climb all the way back up. I extended the rope one foot at a time and eased myself down, but it took a great deal of energy. I was so exhausted I could barely hold on to the rope by the time I reached the ground.”

He let out a long, wistful sigh. “By then, the Sisters had discovered what I was doing, and they captured me as soon as my feet touched the paving tiles.”

“Even if you did make it away from the Palace of the Prophets and over the bridge into Tanimura, your Rada’Han would have prevented you from escaping. The Sisters could have rounded you up at any time,” Nicci said. “I find your story questionable.”

“My story is entertaining, and it also has a point.” He turned to face Bannon. “Sometimes you must be daring to accomplish a great thing, but no matter how daring you are, your deeds will be diminished if you forget to plan properly.”

They toiled higher along a steep switchbacked path. The trees thinned, leading up to a high point ahead.

Nathan stretched his arms. “After that, the Sisters kept me bottled up so tightly that I could never again plan a serious escape. Therefore, I amused myself by writing other adventures and secretly distributing them throughout the land. They became quite popular, enjoyed by many.”

They were out of breath as they finally reached the summit of the ridge and crossed over to take in a sprawling, breathtaking view.

When asking about the way to Kol Adair, they had repeatedly been told about a vast fertile valley filled with green forests, croplands, and villages. But this sight was not at all what they expected.

As the three surveyed the landscape, Nicci saw only brown desolation to the horizon. This was no verdant valley, but a dry and cracked crater, bounded to the north by a high plateau. The heavily forested foothills spilled down to a pale, fuzzy boundary of death. Dust devils skirled across the dry basin. White expanses of sparkling salt indicated where lakes had dried up, leaving only poisoned soil. The terrible desolation spread outward from a central point, countless miles away.

And the dead zone was clearly growing.

Nathan drew a deep disappointed breath. “I will have to update my map.”